**Plant Information**:
– **Common Names**:
– Jangli almond
– Hindi: कालमोगरा Calmogara, Chalmogra, Chaulmoogra
– Jangli badam
– Kannada: Chalmogra yenne mara, Mirolhakai, Surti, Suranti, Toratti, Garudaphala
– Malayalam: Kodi, Maravatty, Marotti, Nirvatta, Nirvetti
– **Habitat**:
– In India: Grows in tropical forests along western Ghats, Maharashtra to Kerala, Assam, Tripura
– Other countries: Found in South East Asia, cultivated in Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Uganda
– **Morphology**:
– Semi-deciduous tree, up to 10m tall
– Bark brownish, fissured; blaze pinkish
– Leaves simple, alternate, oblong to elliptic-oblong, toothed margin
– Flowers greenish white, borne in short cymes or racemes
– Berries woody, round, tomentose, 6–10cm in diameter
**Chaulmoogra Oil**:
– **Usage**:
– Widely used in traditional Indian and Chinese medicine for leprosy treatment
– Historically used until sulfones and antibiotics became prevalent
– **Chemical Composition**:
– Contains unique fatty acids with cyclic groups
– Chemical constituents analyzed for pharmacological activity
– **Extraction**:
– Seeds ovoid, oily, dark brown
– Oil obtained by expression; kernels yield 43% oil
– Extracted oil stored in zinc barrels for export
**Leprosy Treatment**:
– **Historical Usage**:
– Chaulmoogra oil used for leprosy treatment in early 20th century
– Topical application and internal use for leprosy
– **Antimicrobial Activity**:
– Hydnocarpic acid in oil may have antimicrobial activity
– **Transition**:
– Replaced by sulfones in the 1940s
**Research and Publications**:
– **Studies**:
– Parascandola’s study in Pharmacy in History
– Norton’s research in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology
– Sengupta et al. analysis of fatty acids in chaulmoogra oil
– **Publications and References**:
– Singh’s Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Bio-Medicine
– Robson’s work on medical experimentation and leprosy treatment history
**Historical Figures and Contributions**:
– **Contributors**:
– Beverly Mendheim’s work on Alice Augusta Ball’s legacy
– World Health Organization’s report on eliminating leprosy as a public health problem
– **Works**:
– Tizian Zumthurm’s book on historical drug treatments for infectious diseases
– Alice Simpkin’s article in the British Journal of Nursing on leprosy treatment methods